Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[lovethattink]

Yea it seems they have quietly increased park capacity again. This trip was actually a graduation trip to myself that I planned last year but canceled due to the pandemic. Will be interesting to see how next month goes lol

To me, Christmas time seemed much more crowded than now.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Well July was pretty much booked for the entire month. Now most of the month is clear so it seems they did increase capacity (or park reservation tickets).

 

[DMLAINI]

Does anyone know if everyone is ok from the Skyliner accident that happened this evening? We were there in April when the last one happened & thankfully there were no injuries.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I got back on Saturday night, and had 7 park days, albeit with plenty of break time at my resorts.

Crowds are very, very manageable. The parks are not empty like they were last summer, but still not quite at pre-Covid levels imo. There really are far less people in the parks right now--I think folks are still not understanding that just because you see a lot of people out and about it doesn't mean crowds are back to normal. We still have a ton of closed shows that would normally be eating up a lot more people than you would see just walking around. For the most part, posted times are still grossly inflated, only twice did I notice actual waits were close to it. I used the Touring Plans Lines app extensively both to report and see times and it was much more accurate, though I always have to remind people that it's important not just to look at the time but go into the ride's screen and look to see when the last user submitted time was reported. Things can change quickly sometimes. In general though, if you rope drop and stay flexible, you'll be good. Alternatively if you come in the late afternoon, you can get a whole lot done as well (though Epcot is the exception to this, Test Track lines stay ridiculous all day long even up to closing). The tried and true strategy of rope drop, resort break during the peak heat and crowds of the day, then come back in late afternoon/evening is 100% the best way to go imo. I used it very well and did not wait longer than 30 minutes for anything the whole trip.

I will say though that HS right now is the hardest park to deal with by far in terms of wait times, just because aside from Frozen and the Disney Jr. thing, all you have there are headliners. I was very glad to have multiple HS days reserved not just for extra Rise attempts but also because wait times just build here so quickly and stay high all day without those shows to spread crowds. And if any one of them has downtime (eg. SDD, due to weather), it gets even worse. If you are ride focused people and enjoy the HS offerings I would highly suggest 2 days there and do the rope drop/evening strategy.

Thanks for the intel!!

 

[emmabelle]

Went to AK yesterday. We drove and got to the parking lot by 7:15. Parking lot looked pretty empty. People must have bussed in because we went straight to FOP and waited 50 minutes. We did Navi next and waited 25 minutes. We were planning on going to Blizzard Beach so we got some food and then got in line for Kali around 9:50. We waited about 30 minutes. We left after that for Blizzard Beach, we our bought tickets and we were in the water park by 11am. Lines weren’t bad at all. Stayed about 4 hours.

 

[Raemama]

I hope we can get both back by my Oct. trip.

Are you going solo in your Oct. trip as well?

 

[geogirl0626]

Good morning! Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect during my June 19-25 trip? I've heard the park is at 55% capacity now, as opposed to 35%. I'm wondering about wait times and such. I haven't been down there in years, and obviously not without Fastpasses!

I know about the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. And my sister said to go straight to Smuggler's Run at rope drop. In AK, we're planning to go straight to Flight of Passage at rope drop. Is that still the best strategy?

Super excited for our upcoming trip!

 

[lovethattink]

Good morning! Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect during my June 19-25 trip? I've heard the park is at 55% capacity now, as opposed to 35%. I'm wondering about wait times and such. I haven't been down there in years, and obviously not without Fastpasses!

I know about the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. And my sister said to go straight to Smuggler's Run at rope drop. In AK, we're planning to go straight to Flight of Passage at rope drop. Is that still the best strategy?

Super excited for our upcoming trip!

Yesterday at MK wasn’t bad. Parking lot at TTC was pretty empty. We waited 15 minutes for the People Mover, 50 for Pirates, 5 minutes for magic carpets, and 20 for Buzz.

Space Mt. had a huge mass of people. I didn’t look to see what the wait time was.

The sun was brutal! I left my umbrella in the car and I got sunburned. My dole whip melted faster than I could eat it.

I’m moving this thread to the here now, just back thread. That’s the best thread to see what things are like now.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Good morning! Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect during my June 19-25 trip? I've heard the park is at 55% capacity now, as opposed to 35%. I'm wondering about wait times and such. I haven't been down there in years, and obviously not without Fastpasses!

I know about the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. And my sister said to go straight to Smuggler's Run at rope drop. In AK, we're planning to go straight to Flight of Passage at rope drop. Is that still the best strategy?

Super excited for our upcoming trip!

I’ve been checking the wait times on the My Disney Experience app. I’ve noticed times going up slightly-the other day I saw a 90 minute wait for slinky, 70 for splash, 70 for jungle cruise, etc. Still not back to pre-pandemic waits by far, but it looks like they’re getting longer.

 

[geogirl0626]

I’ve been checking the wait times on the My Disney Experience app. I’ve noticed times going to slightly-the other day I saw a 90 minute wait for slinky, 70 for splash, 70 for jungle cruise, etc. Still not back to pre-pandemic waits by far, but it looks like they’re getting longer.

Oh yeah! I didn't think to just look at the app for wait times. That's a great idea.

How early do I need to get to parks for "rope drop?" We are camping in an RV at Fort Wilderness, but we plan to drive to the parks to get there easier. The campground bus system can take forever.

 

[kylenne]

Are you going solo in your Oct. trip as well?

I hope to god no lol. My partner was actually supposed to come with me on this trip, because this was our trip that was postponed from last May, but she's Canadian and the border situation prevented it. So I cut it down to 8 days and made it a solo trip, and our quick October weekend for the 50th was stretched out to our big 2 week trip together. News is looking very good though as of the last couple of days wrt Canada re-opening for leisure & non-essential travel. The latest is they're looking at a phased border re-opening starting with the fully vaccinated as soon as June 22, since the current mutual agreement with the US expires June 21.

 

[figmentfinesse]

Can anyone report on how long before FOTLK you need to be lining up?

 

[boop0524]

Went to AK yesterday. We drove and got to the parking lot by 7:15. Parking lot looked pretty empty. People must have bussed in because we went straight to FOP and waited 50 minutes. We did Navi next and waited 25 minutes. We were planning on going to Blizzard Beach so we got some food and then got in line for Kali around 9:50. We waited about 30 minutes. We left after that for Blizzard Beach, we our bought tickets and we were in the water park by 11am. Lines weren’t bad at all. Stayed about 4 hours.

AK rope drop today is packed too. Bus from SSR skipped our station twice so we ended up driving in ourselves. Arrived at 7:30 and FOP was at least 85 mins if not more. MK and HS were fine for us this week, but here everything we’ve wanted to ride has had good size waits. Not sure what’s going on at AK but yikes, it’s not good.

 

[kylenne]

Good morning! Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect during my June 19-25 trip? I've heard the park is at 55% capacity now, as opposed to 35%. I'm wondering about wait times and such. I haven't been down there in years, and obviously not without Fastpasses!

I know about the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. And my sister said to go straight to Smuggler's Run at rope drop. In AK, we're planning to go straight to Flight of Passage at rope drop. Is that still the best strategy?

Super excited for our upcoming trip!

Your sister is wrong, I'm sorry lol. Literally everyone and their porg at HS rope drop is running to either Smuggler's Run or Slinky Dog. The best move by far imo is to head to Sunset Blvd first thing and hit Tower and RNRC, then work your way back to MMRR. Tower does not always open that early so either or is good, and just hit the other one second. Smuggler's Run waits actually dip fairly low in the early afternoon hours, imo because the rope droppers are starting to leave and hardly anyone hops to HS due to the restrictions on boarding groups (you can only get one if you have a park pass for HS). Both times I rode it I waited like 20-25 minutes tops and that was in the early afternoon before I headed out for my siestas. Tower waits have improved a lot that they're back to multiple elevators and loading more people into them, but the Sunset Blvd attractions don't get that low until almost closing from what I saw last week, and that's when you'll want to hit Slinky Dog.

AK really depends on how early you can get there. If you can manage to get to the park an hour before opening (which is very doable even if driving or taking a rideshare), then definitely head to Flight of Passage first. But if you're running even a little "late", don't even bother, just head to the Safari. It won't be open right away but you'll walk straight onto it when they let you on and the animals are most active in the early morning anyway. The order I did was FoP -> Navi -> Safari and had about a 20 minute wait for the Safari but the animals were still pretty active because it hadn't gotten stinking hot yet.

 

[kylenne]

Can anyone report on how long before FOTLK you need to be lining up?

An hour before your desired showtime, at minimum. Shows fill up VERY quickly because of capped seating capacity. I would even say like 70-80 minutes before just to be safe.

AK rope drop today is packed too. Bus from SSR skipped our station twice so we ended up driving in ourselves. Arrived at 7:30 and FOP was at least 85 mins if not more. MK and HS were fine for us this week, but here everything we’ve wanted to ride has had good size waits. Not sure what’s going on at AK but yikes, it’s not good.

A 7:30 arrival was too late to be hitting FOP at rope drop, sadly. You really have to be in Pandora no later than 7:15 if you want hope of a walk on. Waits build that quickly there. Safari is the best thing at rope drop if you can't get there earlier than that.

 

[boop0524]

Can anyone report on how long before FOTLK you need to be lining up?

We are here for the 10:30 show now. Hopped in line 40 minutes before showtime and were 4th in line. We’re sitting in the second row. But YMMV

 

[gharter]

Good morning! Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect during my June 19-25 trip? I've heard the park is at 55% capacity now, as opposed to 35%. I'm wondering about wait times and such. I haven't been down there in years, and obviously not without Fastpasses!

I know about the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance. And my sister said to go straight to Smuggler's Run at rope drop. In AK, we're planning to go straight to Flight of Passage at rope drop. Is that still the best strategy?

Super excited for our upcoming trip!

It will depend on how many CMs they have and if all of the shows are running. With fewer CMs, they tend to have fewer vehicles running on the rides and the lines get much longer faster.
If the shows and M&Gs aren't going, then you don't have places to hold large groups of people, so they all wonder around making it look busier.

At HS, it really depends where you are in RD. Our last trip, we were toward the front. Went straight to MMRR, rode twice with minimal line, then over to ToT and RnRC with very short lines.

As PP noted, most are going to Smugglers run, Slinky Dog or MMRR. If you are further back, I would go to ToT or RnRC first.
The line to MMRR does seem to be shorter in the afternoon and evening .

 

[figmentfinesse]

We are here for the 10:30 show now. Hopped in line 40 minutes before showtime and were 4th in line. We’re sitting in the second row. But YMMV

amazing! This is the time I was considering. I never expected such a quick answer. Enjoy the show!!

 

[MMR76]

We were in the parks 5/27-6/5. Crowds for the first 5 days were very manageable. On Tues June 1st we were back at Epcot for a 2nd day and there was a noticeable increase in wait times. Wednesday we did a VIP tour across HS, MK & AK. It was great. We managed to do 19 rides across the 3 parks in 7 hours. Thurs, Fri & Sat the lines were pretty long for the headliners. We waited 80 minutes for SDMT, it was listed at 60. We found the wait times for most were higher than actual wait times with the exception of SDMT, MFSR & SDD. They seemed to be right on or under estimated.

Most days we tried to get to the park 30-45 minutes prior to opening and were let in early. We were able to get several rides in each morning by doing this. At HS we hit SDD both times first thing. The first day we waited 40 minutes and the 2nd day we were on in 20 minutes.

I was very worried going into this trip about how different it would be. In reality it didn’t feel that much different. My 15 & 10 year old agreed. There were a few things they missed like the Move it Shake it parade and meeting some characters but we had magical time nonetheless.

I really did miss FP+ the 2nd half of the trip. It was hot and the lines were long. I would have never waited 80 minutes for a ride in the past. We were lucky we had shorter lines the 1st half. I’m hopeful that it will return in some form.

 

[jbish]

I hope to god no lol. My partner was actually supposed to come with me on this trip, because this was our trip that was postponed from last May, but she's Canadian and the border situation prevented it. So I cut it down to 8 days and made it a solo trip, and our quick October weekend for the 50th was stretched out to our big 2 week trip together. News is looking very good though as of the last couple of days wrt Canada re-opening for leisure & non-essential travel. The latest is they're looking at a phased border re-opening starting with the fully vaccinated as soon as June 22, since the current mutual agreement with the US expires June 21.

Guurrrl....you are livin' the dream (aside from not seeing your partner in probably over a year). I'm so jealous of your 8 day solo trip (with great crowds) PLUS going to the 50th PLUS being there for 2 weeks PLUS being reunited. Amazing.